This is a story of what happened on the east coast after the Virus struck. Follow five kids as they figure out life, love, destiny and what it means to really grow up. Sorry, no cast members from the original tribe...just original people I've made. I hope you can all enjoy this and find something to keep you going now that the Tribe is...well...no longer playing. I hope to do justice both emotionally and descriptively to the show as I really really enjoyed it! You can comment if you want, or just read and find new characters to connect with! ^_____^ Thank you so much for taking your time!

-K.M. Thompson

Ch 1 There's No Home: Chastity 'Chaz' and Claire

It was the sound of glass shattering that startled Chaz to life. Ordinarily she would have given a little scream--but she knew better now. Instead she pressed her hand against her little sister's mouth, and saw in the dim light that her green eyes were wide with fear. Chaz released the young girl's mouth and signaled to remain where she was before crawling out of the room and then slid along the hallway floor slowly. She could hear laughter coming from several people followed by something crashing and closed her eyes briefly. She was upstairs and from what she could tell, the people downstairs were raiding the broken fridge. Maybe they'd leave...but she couldn't take the chance. Carefully, she crawled back to the far back room where she and her sister had been sleeping.

"Chastity?" Her sister's whisper was filled with fear and Chaz smiled even as she grabbed their backpacks and began stuffing the blanket they'd been sharing in it.

"We have to go Claire."

"But we just got--"

"Not now Claire. Do you want to get caught? Remember what happened to Denni and Kim? Do you want to end up like them?"

Tears filled Claire's eyes as she shook her head, and Chaz smiled grimly. She hated using scare tactics, but it was the only thing that seemed to work with her sister.

"Then grab your pack and lets go."

"But how do we get past them?"

She wished Claire wouldn't ask so many questions. Shrugging on her pack she opened the window and looked down. There was a drain pipe that looked sturdy enough to support them.

"We go down. I'll go first and you follow okay?"

"I'm scared of hights!" Her sister's voice almost grew loud and Chaz put a finger to her lips.

"So am I, but I'm doing it. And you can too. Remember Denni and Kim, Claire."

Keeping it in mind herself, Chaz hesitated as her hand connected with the cold metal pipe. She really didn't like hights; but she hated the idea of dying more. Easing her body down the pipe she smiled. It was still sound. She motioned for Claire to follow and after a few seconds the nine year old followed her sister. Chaz gave her a thumbs up and began to climb down again and had almost reached jumping distance when something large crashed through the window near her on the first floor.

"Hey! Watch where you're throwing that! We might need it!"

A girl--probably around seventeen from the looks of it--stuck her head out the window, her dark skin taking on a golden appearance from all flashlights down stairs. Looking down, Chaz saw a chair lying broken on the lawn, and held her breath, hoping the girl wouldn't look up.

"Kare, get in here, I found us a bed!"

"Oh please, like I'd ever share a bed with you!"

The girl disappeared and the two sisters quickly finished their descent on the drain pipe. Pausing, Chaz took a leg from the broken chair and her sister copied her before they jumped over the broken fence and headed down the mangled streets of suburbia. Claire clutched to her hand and Chaz kept her eyes open, raising the makeshift club in her hand every time something rustled. The streets she used to ride her bike down and hang out with her friends were now filled with litter, dead bodies, and broken equipment. The houses that were once people's homes were now the playground of bands of kids, 'tribes' the liked to call themselves.

"Chaz, I'm tired. I want to sleep. Can't we just stay in one of these houses?"

"No. If there's one group here, then more will come. The woods will have to be safe for now."

"I hate the woods." muttered Claire as she dragged her club, "They've got bugs in them. And what if a bear eats us?"

"There ARE no bears in New York. Stop being so picky. We're alive aren't we? Now come one, we're almost there."

Grateful for the silence--even if it was a sulking one--Chaz led her sister into the woods that backed several homes. There were no sounds save for crickets and frogs, and they found a slightly cleared spot by a stream to call home for the night. Claire was too tired to argue about the dampness of the ground as she snuggled against her sister, and quickly fell asleep. Chaze looked up into the canopy of black leaves. The stars were brighter now that there weren't any lights, and the air was cleaner.

'Some consolation.'

Closing her eyes Chaz thought of her life before the virus. It had only been a little over half a year, but the world as she knew it had changed forever; and drastically. Once upon a time she had lived in a suburb fifteen minutes out of New York City, and life had been good. She'd had a mom and dad she couldn't complain about, friends that she did everything with, and even an annoying sister to complete the deal. And then that virus...that stupid virus from New Zeland. They'd said it was contained, to not worry about it. How wrong they were. Weeks later nearly half of the adults had died in America. Chastity had sat holding her mother's hand, listening to her mother's last dying words of what to do; of where to go.

'Chastity, I know your young...but you have to take care of your sister, I know you can do it. If you can...go as far away from the city as you can alright? Don't stay here. If...' She'd started to sound weak and whispery. Even her voice began to sound like the wind

'If there are no more adults...there will be a lot of chaos. Take your sister and run towards the hills. Any place without too many people. Do...do You understand Chastity?'

She had been able to do nothing more than nod her head and cry. Her mom died a few minutes later and Chastity had to say, it was not the best present for her 15th birthday. A snapping sound broke Chaz out of her daze and she looked around. There was no other sound, and she didn't feel as if they were being watched. It was probably just a bird. Shakily she took out their blanket and wrapped it around them, glad for at least that little comfort. They had stayed in the suburbs too long and it was long past time they leave, just as their mother had told them to.

Looking down at her little sister Chaz wondered about the wisdom of her mother's words. They were only kids themselves, and she could barely survive living in the suburbs. What made her think she could survive the woods? Claire hated green things whether she was near them or eating them, and bugs DID seem to like to eat her alive. Running a hand through her golden brown hair Chaz sighed. She didn't know what to do...and no one could tell her what to do from here. If this was growing up, she hated it.

'Tomorrow we'll head for New England. There's probably no one there...and I bet there are a lot more houses that aren't beat up like here.'

Feeling a bit more in control now that she had a plan, Chaz fell asleep, where dreams from her past floated in and reminded her of better times and left her unprepared for the future that would soon await her.